Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-03-19

purposes with little regard for accuracy or
fitness of meaning. If they are but
forcible, have about them snap" and fire
and push, the everyday world is content,
and scholars may gnash their teeth over
the debasement of the tongue as much
as their angered disgust prompts them
And this leads us by natural and easy
transition to consider some of the re-
markable and curious peryersions OF
meanings of latter days that are due to
misapplication and usage, and which such
lineuists as Waites, Phyfe, Mathews.
Marsh, Sumner, Trench. Whitney and
others have made texts for elaborate treat
ment. Thus kid /" is slang application
designating child, yet it has in its orig
inal form soberly genuine ring. 1t Is
provincial English for the German "kind,"
meaning a child So kidnap, accepted
by Webster to mean "to steal man,
woman or child" really meant originally
to steal child. @Crank," slang with us,
comes probably from the solid German
" krank,n meaning SICK" Bub," an of
fensive colloquialism in the estimation OF
the American small boy, comes from the
German bube," a lad, though Webster
ignores the true origin, while according to
g boom It's true genesis, and defining it to
mean to rush with violence" which, let
it be understood, Californians are not at
tempting in regard to their State.
So, too, the curious will find that our
chiefs of trade contorted the word pat
ronage," which really implies their mental
dependence. They should not, says Waites,
speak of their patrons" unless they wish
TO wish to be understood that their Gus
toners buy of them not because they need
the goods, but merely to " give the mer-
chant money. "Allude" has lost with
us its real significance, since it comes
from aludo,' ludere," to play,
meaning to indicate loosely and in slight
and passing manner. So, too, Waites
points out how ''remit has unwarranta-
bly, taken the place of the homlier and
better word send," not to send back, not
withstanding the fact that Webster con-
sents to its use in the popular sense, and
credits common usage and commerce with
the paternity of the word remittance"
Mathews points out as an example of the
extraordinary changes of language, the
word "nice," the original sense Of which
was Ignorant odd French, "nice, fool
ish )" Latin, "necius," ignorant; me mot"
scio, "to know The use of the word
appreciate" in the sense of raising the
value of thing, is pure and simple an
Americanism, meaning to set d price
upon, to value Usage has done for 1t
what it promises to do for boom make
it tolerable, however far short of express
ing the thought for which it becomes the
vehicle. Again, FESTIVE" under the
magic wand of usage, has taken on mean
ing directly the reverse of its original, one,
indeed, the accommodating and rather
plant successors to the editorship of Web
ster's unabridged have not yet accepted.
So far from meaning "restless," it really
conveys the idea of obstinacy, unwilling
ness to go, inclined to rest.
In the rapidity with which we accom-
modate to the convenience of vocalization
words for meanings that have little or no
relation to them, we must believe not only
that "boom" has come to stay, as popu-
larly used; but, worse still, that it has
fastened upon the enterprise of settling
this State, and will not be shaken of.